The New English Hymnal ‎#32

32. O little town of Bethlehem

1 O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep And dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.

2 O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the king,
And peace to men on earth;
For Christ is born of Mary;
And, gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.

3 How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him ,still
The dear Christ enters in.

4 *Where children pure and happy
Pray to the blessèd Child,
Where misery cries out to thee,
Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.

✗ 5 O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell:
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel.

✗ Descant version overleaf.

Text Information

• First Line: O little town of Bethlehem
• Author: Phillips Brooks, 1835-93
• Meter: DCM
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1986
• Topic: The Christian Year: Christmas

Tune Information

• Name: FOREST GREEN
• Harmonizer: R. V. W., 1872-1958
• Composer (descant): Thomas Armstong, b. 1898
• Meter: DCM
• Key: F Major
• Source: English Traditional Melody
• Copyright: Descant by permission of Royal School of Church Music; Arr. by permission of Oxford University Press (from "English Hymnal")